I Do Woo; Do U?

Tag Archives: Laughter

Decided to go to the hot springs today as a surprise for Greg. We had breakfast in La Fortuna and then went back to Los Logos. They allow you to go in for the day and use the facilities. There are numerous warm (just off of hot) pools with a few slightly cooler and then two regular (cool) pools. Slides are fast – with warm (or cool) water rushing you down on smoothed hard surfaces – not plastic.

The place was filled with mostly Spanish speaking families there for the day – with only a smattering of tourists. There was a group of adults playing with a volley ball in the one pool. Greg confirmed with us how to ask to play with them – and within minutes he’s in there with a group of Spanish speaking people who were kind enough to allow him to join their group. Walter and I are so proud of our little man. Not only is his Spanish increasing in leaps and bounds – he puts himself out there even though there is the language difference.

At one point I left my men to cool off over in the regular pool. After floating around I was getting out when a group of Spanish women started chatting with me. I explained my Spanish was “poquito”. We managed to work together with one of the younger woman speaking English and translating – helping me to say what I wanted to say. Turns out the mother, who had spoken to me initially, wanted to know if I was married (yes) – then where was my husband. After a back and forth conversation this woman told me she thought I was beautiful. Wow! What a wonderful interaction. Walter figures she was trying to set me up – that is until she found out I was already married. LOL

We then had lunch back at La Fortuna. What we have now agreed is we will always look at the menu before seating ourselves. Some restaurants are quite a bit more than others – and really the quality of food is not necessarily any better. Live and learn.

We wrapped up our excursion by exploring the wildlife area of Los Logos. They had a butterfly greenhouse, a frog habitat, an elaborate leaf cutter ant exhibit including the nest and a glass tunnel to view and lastly a few alligators. The Arenal Volcano was still shrouded in clouds. Something to look forward to for another excursion.

Gregory ended the day with another resounding “awesome!” and Walter and I agreed it was a great day. Below are a few of the photos we took today. Thank you for following me.

Hope you are enjoying our share.

I am grateful for today. Gregory is doing his best to “fit in” with his peers at school. Most have phones or tablets. The person we rented from offered to leave their Nokia phone for Gregory to use (they were to get a new IPhone once they got to Europe). We put a prepaid SIM in it and voila – he is connected.

After we did a 1 minute “sit” this morning (no move, quite time, meditation) with him, Gregory decided he wanted to try a longer meditation on his own. I was on a business call so he called his father to let him know what he was doing. He really is enjoying his new independence but likes to stay connected and check in.

Then Walter received the following message ….

Turns out the button for his pants broke in half, and was no longer attached….and his pants were falling down. He has no hips so pants tend to just drop….he was in a bit of a panic. Thank goodness we are only minutes from the school.

My observation…his ability to spell phonetically is about the same in Spanish as it is in English! Onwards!

Today I considered the option of purchasing sheets for our rental beds. The owner has linen but suggested we bring our own – commenting some people find it more comfortable to use their own. And if we choose to wait and decide to purchase there – supposedly the available options for good bed linen are not many. Purchasing something specifically to bring was not on our plan but the more I thought about it, I decided to look into this further.

Our landlord also explained that with the humidity the sheets can sometimes feel damp and therefore cold. She purchased the electric mattress heaters which she suggests we turn on about 15 minutes before bed and then everything feels better.

My search began on line and within only a few sights I found one set of sheets which sounded interesting – bamboo and cotton. I figure since bamboo is from rain forests, this may be something to consider. Then I read the reviews and they were all 4 and 5 stars. One of the reviews said they purchased the product for their place in Panama – due to the dampness and humidity – and they were fantastic!

We have a winner!

Now….while I AM getting rid of the majority of what I own…I still appreciate a good shop now and again. I especially love getting either a good deal or something extraordinary. I promise to come back to you on how they turn out.

Walter just came in to hear my DoWoo. After reading this, we chatted and then as he was leaving he came over to give me a kiss and saw I was already looking online for sizes and rates. He said “A little bit of retail therapy.” My answer “Ya-ah!” I guess I’m not so ‘recovered’ after-all.

The wonderful thing about being a mom is that our son brings home all sorts of crafts, pictures he created, rocks he painted, cards he put together….and interestingly he expects me to keep them ALL. I recently had to explain to Gregory that we may need to double our storage rental if I were to have kept everything he ever made or gave us.

A few weeks ago there was something he had drawn and he wanted me to keep it. While I did keep things for years, I’ve been rather brutal recently and have let much of this go. I explained to Gregory we could take a picture of it, that way we will have it with us without it taking up any room. He thought this was a great idea and did not have appear to have any (rear view mirror) issues with it going into the garbage once we digitized it on our camera.

Today we dismantled Gregory’s bunk bed as it was being purchased by someone. Gregory is now sleeping on the last piece of his bedroom set – the bottom mattress where Mya usually sleeps. He asked her to come in and snuggle with him. He called out to me to come see her in his bed with him. I explained my camera battery was low so I would not be able to take a picture with the flash. He replied “Just take a picture with your mind.”I no longer rely on my memory (LOL) so took one without the flash – after turning on the light!

Had a conversation at dinner this evening which took an interesting turn into belly laughter. We were discussing finishing the food on your plate when I stated “I always finish what’s on my plate…sometimes, I just have other people help me with some of it.” Walter advised he tried every permutation he could to make this statement make sense in his mind…he could just not see the logic in this statement. Gregory piped up to say “No logic!.”

I tried explaining my rationale that just because it was on my plate at some point, did not mean I had to finish it, only that it needed to be be finished. If some of the food made it onto Walter’s plate then it was no longer on my plate to finish – ergo, once I finished what was left I was finished. Gregory looked at me and said “bubble above my head with a question mark”.

We went back and forth a bit with this – and every time I mentioned it in any way, Walter started chuckling and said “no more” as I was making him laugh. What I loved was when Gregory asked to have one of the last pieces of garlic bread….upon my response that he had to finish what was on his plate, he immediately picked up the last piece of potato and said…”Guess what I’m going to do?” His fork reached over to Walter’s plate and the potato was gone from Gregory’s plate – ultimately allowing his plate to be finished.

Walter and I howled with laughter. I told Gregory that his actions were priceless and caused a good chuckle. He could proceed this one time! Love how quick he is on picking up the levity of the situation.

Today was a very good mother’s day! I was spoiled by both my men. And Gregory…well, he is a reminder that my trek into motherhood has been totally well worth the price of admission.

“They” say that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasures”. I’ve always loved that “they” have something to say about almost everything and no one truly knows who “they” are.

The last few weeks and today felt like a slight twist on this old idiom – my treasures are now able to be someone else’s treasures. During the process of divesting ourselves of the materialistic aspects of our life, we have been offering all that we own to those we know, care and love. As of today we have sold all our main furniture other than Gregory’s room. It’s exciting to see the joy someone else sees in an object, the beauty, the symmetry, the usefulness. Thank you to those who pitched in and decided what we had to offer worked for their spaces. We send everything onto your space with love!

I stood outside the main living room – approximately 200 square foot room – and perused all the stuff sorted for our garage sale, piled in spots 4 bins high. I turned to Walter and said, I handled all of that – sorted it and chose for it to be sold. To which he turned to me and responded “You most likely purchased it all as well.”

My name is Carolynn – and I am a shopaholic!

I recall explaining to Walter early on in our relationship… that when I got upset or stressed, I would shop; and when I was happy and exciting about life, or whatever was going on, I shopped. This is when he realized…and shared his observation with me…I just like to shop.

OK – I admit it. I love to shop. I especially love to get a GREAT deal on something. I love to negotiate and bargain. I’ve even played “good cop / bad cop” with me playing both parts in order to negotiate a price down on a particular piece of furniture. I remember bargaining with the butcher when purchasing shish kabobs!

I was thinking about this last night and decided to play with our garage sale sign. We even went so far as to include the same wording in the classified add for the garage sale in this weeks newspaper. Julie, in classified, laughed the whole time we chatted. What do you think???

I can only imagine what it must be like to account for all the things which turn each one of our cranks. Is this what marketing gurus spend their nights dreaming about?

We have 5 senses (some may have 6 or more but let’s stick with the standard 5):

Seeing: a burst of your favourite colour on a clothes rack makes your head swivel.

Hearing: the rev of an engine…maybe a Harley motorcycle engine…has you pausing to watch it go by.

Smelling: coming home after school to smell the aroma of mom’s banana bread straight out of the oven.

Tasting: the first bite into a medium rare steak having just been dipped in Bearnaise sauce.

Touching: putting my hands on a Logitech Wave keyboard, having the wrist rest call to me.

I know, sounds pretty out there huh?! But it’s what turned my crank today. The keyboard was almost double the price of one I was going in to purchase. Is this what marketing departments do?

The philosophy we study in the Master Key is that a thought, mixed with a feeling, combined with faith and belief, results in creation. I wonder…if we are the ones thinking about what we need or desire or would like, then once it has become a thought it is sent, by way of energetic signal, out into the world, and then while the creators (those who may have been born with that marketing gene) are dreaming, they begin to formulate a plan on how to fulfill what we are needing, desiring or asking for…and poof! Creation!

We see it in the store. We hear it while out walking the dog. We smell it coming home from school. We taste it in a restaurant. We feel it and it fits.

Is this another one of those chicken and egg scenarios? I’ll have to allow this more observation.

I purchased the keyboard!

Have had a roller coaster ride this week while looking for accommodation. I was waffling on our #1 choice as it was double what we had planned to spend and at the same time it was more than double what we anticipated we would have from an accommodation perspective. It’s gorgeous and has the best internet we could hope for.

Walter looked at me and shook his head. He went on to reminded me of the story of the man who ignored the radio message, the boat and the helicopter to save him from the flood, expecting God to save him only to die. When he is in front of God, he mentions his confusion that God did not indeed save him. God responded with confusion of his own as he did not understand why the man did not take what he offered – he had sent the radio message, the boat and the helicopter to save the man.

Why would I question what is perfect for us? A great space to transition into another country. I was waiting for a sign of some sort when the sign was already in the delivery of the fulfillment of my desire.

I may not have listened to the radio message but I did get on the boat. The helicopter has gone to save someone else.

In our house we like to concentrate on the positive, removing negative words from our vocabulary and embracing the positive spin which we all have the choice to take on everyday activities. Gregory is a fast learner and I’ve blogged before about his adeptness on this family objective.

Gregory received homework today which needs to be handed in on Monday and he chose to work on it this evening – before dinner – in order to get it done. Love that kid! I’m reminded of being employed by a company who said they would send you away with “home-fun” (as compared to home-work).

As a treat, for being the diligent child that he is, we offered him the opportunity to watch an episode of King Julian while we ate our dinner. He jumped at it and immediately ran down to set up the TV trays.

If you’ve ever had the joy of watching Madagascar, this is a spin off of the lemur story line from the movie. Gregory giggles through the entire thing which is always entertaining in itself. As with many cartoon movies or shows, there usually is some form of “adult” understood humour thrown in to keep us amused. This evening King Julian fired his adviser. When she questioned him, he said that she should consider it her “fire-tunity”.

Walter and I looked at each other and laughed out loud. Had not heard THAT one before.

Cute play on words and great philosophy…as long as (Walter commented) it stays away from being an oper-tastrophe !

What words can you play around with in order to turn a potentially negative situation into a positive? Please feel free to expand our discussion down below. Have a blessed day!

I am a Newfie. For those who don’t know what that means, it is a term associated with those born in the province of Newfoundland. Newfies are typically considered a different bunch – with most people saying they have a “Newfie” friend who they just lo-ove! We are the ‘butt’ of many a joke in Canada (same jokes they tell in other countries using varying groups depending on which country). One of the best things my father taught me (he was also from Newfoundland) was to embrace my heritage…and if people tell jokes – laugh with them. THEN learn to tell the joke just as good…or better!

There is a spice called “savory” which grows outside of St. John’s. It is a wonderful green, leafy spice used on meats and most especially liked when used in stuffing for the holiday turkey.

You must be wondering where I’m going with this….(me too!)

We sat down to dinner this evening – the menu was one of my mom’s recipes when we were kids. I watched Gregory devour the food. Making sure he snagged the last wrap on the serving plate before he even finished the one on his plate. I reveled in his happy dance bounce with food in his mouth, a hum in his throat, a wiggle in his chair and arms pointing upwards. Thoroughly enjoying the recipe.

We cheered our glasses together, looked over at my mom’s urn and said “Thanks Mom!”

THIS is called savoring the moment. Savoring my mom’s memory. Savoring all that my mom left within me which I am blessed to be able to pass on to our son.

The recipe which elicited today’s observations?

Mom’s Hot Ham & Cheese:

2 cups chopped ham

2 cups chopped cheddar cheese

6 hard boiled eggs, chopped

(add chopped olives if you like – my mom did)

Toss the above together in a large bowl

Mix together in a measuring cup 1/4 cup of miracle whip or mayonnaise, 1/8 cup of ketchup, 1/8 cup relish and a teaspoon (or more to taste) of chives chopped fine – creates an orange coloured sauce

Add the sauce to the first ingredients, thoroughly mixing until everything is coated (it should be just enough to hold everything together without being runny)

Spoon the mixture into the buns, wrap in tin foil with the opening creased at the top

Bake on a tray in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

Remove from oven, allow to cool for a 5 minutes – serve – enjoy!

While I was just starting to type in the recipe, Walter came in with a line he wrote down just now – it kept coming to him during his sit outside: “Sweeten your future by savoring the past that came from a perfect present.”

Over the last year I have had the honour of learning and collaborating alongside Marea – an inspiring mom of 2 (soon to be 3) who took one of the key aspects of our Master Key class and created her site “Family Positive Mental Attitude“.

Having a daily PMA is one of the areas Napoleon Hill speaks about.

Gratitude goes out to Mark J for having posted this, reminding me of the power of these 20 points.

All 20 are already within us!
How great is that!?No need to go to the store to purchase ANYTHING!

I re-watched, making copious notes, since Mark asked what was the most important parts, what have I “nailed” and where I believe I need to improve? My answers: Favourite: #4: especially when irritated or angry has been part of my routine, however I will now adopt the 1 full minute first thing in the morning. Nailed: nothing fully but for the most part #8 through #11. Room to Improve: all of it – but specifically #14 and #15.

I took loads of notes because not only does Hill explain the point, he tells you how to do it. This is so in line with what the Master Key Experience is like – The course explains the key points on realigning your life BUT more importantly shows how to go about doing it.

If you watch the above video and say anything similar to what said a year and 1/2 ago “How can I possibly do all that!?” – let me assure you, you CAN. That’s point #6!

We were on the last ‘weekly’ call of the Master Key today. Next Sunday is our commencement. 6 full months of realigning our thoughts with our desires and fueling them with the power of feeling. For those of us who have stayed the course…who have embraced the exercises…we have reaped significant rewards.

Have you ever wondered why your goals remain just out of reach? Have you ever questioned why what you have concentrated on does not happen? How would you like to put actions into play which reaps results? If you have answered yes to any of these questions….share your details with me below and I will ensure you are one of the select few who hear about the next class before the masses do. There is a maximum number of scholarships awarded. If we can show you how to do this, truly show you how to put your dream into reality, why would you not want to sign up?

If you change how you look at things – the things you look at change! – Wayne Dyer

The choice is TOTALLY up to you!

Laughter truly is the best medicine…is it not??

Throughout today this was the running theme: whether it was us helping others find laughter in the moment, others sharing moments which made us laugh or Walter helping me to laugh – it all felt so good!

I remember when I worked in a corporate environment, the more stressed I was the more I laughed. I even let my team know the amount of laughter was in direct correlation to my level of stress. So if I appeared rather jovial, it may be best to tread carefully. Somehow finding something to laugh about – well it turned the craziness around.

In thinking about this tonight…I now realize I was using the Law of Substitution. Hey, what do you know?

I just realized I do not do this with laughter anymore. Stress and laughter are not connected anymore. I laugh because it feels good to laugh. I live (for the most part) in laughter. It’s a really nice space to reside. Rest assured this does not mean it looks like a comedy routine – more like happiness bubbling up – some small, some medium, some overflowing – Loud Smiles! I look forward, since I am now cognizant of it, I will continue to increase this space until it encompasses my entire being. Allowing any less desirable spaces to implode.

Today is going to be a short DoWoo. I admit life has caught up with me and I choose to get off this lovely electronic tool, curl up with a good book, relax, reconnect with myself during my evening sit, and sleep with dreams of warm water, sand, sunshine and a hammock.

For those who have blessed us during our journey thus far – thank you! We are grateful for all the support, the encouragement, the warmth and love you have shared. May you all have laughter infused within your journey. God bless!

But before you go….would it be OK if I leave you with what was one of my truly loud smiles today – courtesy of Walter. Last night he gashed his head.

Throughout today he would bow his head and say “I’ve got my eye on you.”

The 3 of us are in the process of learning Spanish – using translation dictionaries, language books and online apps to help us. Putting together phrases or sentences we use regularly. The other day Walter showed me an app which allows you to take a picture or scan something with your smart phone and voila! Instant translation! Holy Sugar – this is so totally going to help rock our transition.

This morning Walter sends me this cartoon saying it reminds him of our son Gregory and his dog Mya.

Rather than type the verbiage into Google translate – I sent it to myself as a JPEG as the app I downloaded yesterday supposedly allows you to use pictures and it will translate for you. But then my phone converted the JPEG to winmail.dat file – which I could not open on my phone. Being the digital diva that I am…I decided to take a screen shot!

Walter, watching me do this with a big smile on his face, asked “Newfie Screen Shot?” I admit my blond does come out of a bottle so I’ll have to embrace my Newfoundland heritage for this case – my dad always encouraged me to laugh “with” rather than “at” the joke.

After not getting yesterdays downloaded app to work on this cartoon, I downloaded the Google Translation app, printed the cartoon so I could scan it with my phone – and voila! for the most part it worked. Way cool! So for those of you who don’t speak / read Spanish:

The 4th box kept giving me different translations so I typed it online to translate. I learned that in Spanish the use of punctuation has a significant impact on the verbiage.

Without any ! at the beginning or a capital on the first word – it translated to: “will never die”. Add in the ! at the beginning OR a capital on the first word and now it translates to: “Do not ever die.” However, as soon as you add in the second ! at the end of the sentence – the full translation is now: “Do not die ever!” A few weeks ago when someone asked me which Spanish I was learning – I answered “Google Spanish”.

I realized there is even more to Spanish than I had imagined. Once we get to Costa Rica, I’m sure there will be local adjusting required. I choose to totally embrace this learning experience and look forward to where it will take us all.

In pondering my observations of and from today, three areas strike me as being interwoven:

Be kind to myself– we just wrapped up a week of kindness within the Master Key Experience and one of the themes which kept cropping up at my end was needing to kind to oneself – truly allowing yourself to receive unconditional kindness from yourself and those who wish to offer it, so you may have more of yourself to offer, more kindness to give to those who need it.

I give myself permission to… – this is the phrase Mark asked us to write down and finish during yesterdays’ Week 17 session. I wrote down “I give myself permission to say and do what I believe to be true without second guessing and self reassessment.”

Decisiveness– is my virtue I am to concentrate on this week within the Franklin Makeover. Recognizing it in others and myself.

So…in the rhythm of recognizing the signs of abundance being offered to me…recognizing all interactions are put in front of me to encourage my understanding of something I am to learn or comprehend…when I put these 3 aspects together I get: Be kind to myself by giving myself permission to embrace my decisiveness. Pretty powerful sentence from where I’m sitting.

Today I recognized and became frustrated with someone else, based upon my perception they lacked motivation to change their circumstance and preferred to wallow and complain. Interestingly this is the same person who was one of the catalysts which spurned this DoWoo movement of mine. After all that I have learnt through my realignment journey, I recognize this is a reflection of me to me. It’s not about her. She IS doing something about it, AND she is doing the best she can with what she knows and what she has at her disposal. Anything else is an opinion…which does not belong here.

Since it’s not her, then I have to ask what am I frustrated with myself about? The answer rings loudly – I am frustrated at my inability to allow myself to be myself without having unrealistic expectations of myself. Walter has explained for years that I am my hardest critic. I know this philosophy and recognize that I need to let it go…but when I’m in the middle of it, I find it a challenge to truly embrace that this is possible.

As of TODAY I decisively give myself permission to be kind to myself and in so doing, I am able to be kinder to others.

Out of this discussion about this particular person’s complaint, and my “old blueprint” reaction ending with a ‘new blueprint” analysis…came an interesting thought: Walter asked me to consider that once we are in Costa Rica, until we understand Spanish, the locals could be shouting out in a good way or complaining wholeheartedly about something and we won’t be able to comprehend the difference!

I received some sad news mid this week. The doctor in charge of my mom’s palliative care informed her, and us, she now has a very short time left. The phrase the doctor used is mom’s body is winding down. So not being hungry, things not tasting good enough to want to eat, being tired and week all the time, and just wanting to sleep, are all signs the body is winding down. Personally I haven’t heard this phrase but it seemed gentler…kinder, somehow.

Up till now, no matter how poorly my mom felt, she would rally. When she was diagnosed with cancer about 6 years ago at the age of 79, she went through a significant operation, months of chemotherapy and 26 rounds of radiation over a 5 week period – spending her 80th birthday fighting cancer. It was brutal to watch what it did to her. I remember sharing my thoughts on visualization…recommending she imagine each time she was going through her treatment there was a little guy inside with a laser gun zapping all the cancer cells to dust. Personally I pictured Marvin the Martian.

Less than a year ago she was told the cancer was back. She was surprised and disappointed as she figured she’d beaten the odds – they had given it a 5 year window – and she had almost reached that point. Her immediate direction to the doctor was to operate and take it out of her. While operating was not considered to be an option, they did try chemotherapy. This was too much for her body to handle and the treatment was stopped.

When the doctor told her a month ago she had months not years left, her comment was “I am going to live longer than that doctor thinks I am, I am going for another oxygen treatment”! This is a woman who despite all odds continues to fight.

I’m schedule to drop over tomorrow morning. I’ve been giving this much thought in the 2 days since we were informed. I cannot imagine what my mom is feeling. But I do recognize that this is not for me to be concerned with (remember what I wrote yesterday…accept the things I cannot change). What she feels, thinks, believes, imagines…they are all hers and hers alone. What I CAN offer is what I have always offered my mom – a daughter who tells it the way it is but somehow manages to put a twist of humour in – encouraging laughter whenever possible.

To carry a bit over from yesterday’s post, Walter and I had quite a long discussion about my family, my interaction with them, how I can proceed to think and be aware and ultimately my choices in all of “this”. He also pointed out that I have come a long way.

If I have come a long way…I must have been damn fine for him to have fallen in love with me back then! AND now…well, I must be indescribably over the top appealing. Right? Laugh with me…this is exactly what I must do in order to put everything into perspective!

Now onto a serious note. I’m very grateful Walter loves me. I remember when we first started to date, I waited a few months before I introduced him to any of my family. When we were on our way back from a dinner with my mom, 2 of my sisters and their husbands…I asked “So…what did you think?” To which he asked “Can you laugh?” My response “Yes!”

Now, I’m sure each of us has some unique family dynamics which we believe are out-of-this world dysfunctional. It truly does make for some interesting conversation when stories are shared. Bottom line is no matter how interesting our family is…yesterdays observations about forgiveness reign true. We must concentrate on something else.

I’m reminded of the question “How come your family knows which buttons to push?” and the answer is “Because they put them there!”

I choose to concentrate on making today count! I choose to concentrate on being my best me today! I choose to be whole, perfect, strong, powerful, loving, harmonious & happy! I choose….

and that is when I started to consider….

Now…this may be as simple as hitting Ctrl+Alt+Delete. However, we may need to dig a bit deeper to find where those buttons were installed. AND If they were installed in our default programming files it may take a bit of extra knowledge to safely uninstall those memes…those peptides can be rather complicated files…duplicated in various areas to minimize attempts to remove.

I’m working on it. How YOU doing?

Had a number of interesting observations over the the last few days which involved our son Greg. Now for those of you who have followed this journey there have been a number of my observations writings not being directly my own but observed and appreciated through our 9 year old’s perspective on life. Please allow me to share.

We were out on Saturday picking up our Christmas tree when Greg pipes up and says out of the blue “When we move to Costa Rica, will we be taking our cars with us?” No, we would not be. “Can we give one to Anil’s mom?” Anil is Greg’s best friend for almost a full year now. Mostly inseparable in school and yet still requiring as much bonding time on the weekends as the parents can handle. His mom does not have a vehicle so anything they do must be walking. We called her about the weekend and took time to explain that when she gets her license Greg wants to give her our vehicle when we leave for Costa Rica. How generous is that?!!

Then the very next day, after he and Anil had spent an entire afternoon playing on their electronic games, we were in the car after I had picked him up when he said “Anil and I are going to be brothers-in-law.” Oh? How is that? “When we grow up, Anil will have a girl or boy and then I will grown up and have the other and then they can get married and we will be brother-in-laws.” How inventive is that?!

We stopped to get fries from “5 Guys Burgers” to go with our homemade burger (LOL!). While we are waiting at the counter, Greg looks up from his peanut eating and says “I think there are at least 2 men in the back.” The back? Did you see someone go back there? “No. There are 3 men working out here so there must be 2 in the back.” I complimented him on his deductive reasoning. I chuckled for hours over that one!

This evening Walter and Greg were in the family room: Greg reading. Walter had asked him to go upstairs to get ready for bed. After a number of stall tactics, Walter asked him “Why do I have to tell you things 5 times before you do it?”

Does that bring back memories of when you were a kid?
I can actually hear my father saying this to me!!

Greg turned to his father and said, “I know a way you don’t have to tell me 5 times.” To which Walter waved him upwards asking him to go get ready and then he could come back down. Upon Greg’s return Walter encouraged him to share his idea on what we were to do so we did not have to tell him 5 times to do something. Greg promptly answered “Have patience.” He stood there with a look of “duh” because it just made so much sense to him.

Walter then said “That’s great but I also know another way that you can keep me from having to tell you 5 times.” to which Greg ask “How’s that?” “Do it after I tell you the first time.” “Oh” he says and then adds “Patience is still good.”

I dedicate this blog to my son and my father. The son who turned 9 this past summer and my father who would have been 99 if he were still with us. One of the things I shared with my father – his teaching and me adopting and now me teaching and Greg adopting – was the power of deductive reasoning. Something we encourage at all times. Even when it results in the reflective mirror being held up in front of us.

I am most grateful.

Happy dance of Joy. I am 1/10th of my way to 365consecutive days of DoWoo-ing. It’s interesting…everyone once and a while I’ll start to have a thought….‘Wow! I never could have imagined doing this!” Then I immediately stop myself and say “Aha! Now THAT is an opinion!”

I DID imagine doing this! I decided just over a month ago to change how I allowed my thoughts to relay information as being my reality. I took everything we learned in the Master Key class, everything I’ve learned by reading Haanel, Og, Deepak, Wayne…(so many others) and embraced, truly embraced, that I have the power within me to create anything I chose to create.

Our 9 year old son came home from school today. We were standing at the kitchen counter chatting while he had his “Mya” snack. He calls it this as he has something to munch on before or after he walks his dog Mya after school. He looks up and asks “Is ‘sexy’ a bad word?”

Best defense for a parent to buy time to formulate an answer to any question…respond with a question of your own. “Do you know what the word ‘sexy’ means?”“No” he answered. Phew! I let out my breath. No wait! I still haven’t dealt with his question have I?

Allow! Allow! Deep breath…jump!

“Well…sexy is an adult word for attractive. Mommy thinks daddy is attractive so I think he is sexy. Daddy thinks mommy is attractive so daddy thinks I’m sexy. That’s one of the reasons we got married. But it is not a word kids use – it’s a word adults use.”

Hope this works…. “Do you think you should use it?”“No”.“So, the use of the word by you and your friends could be considered ‘bad’ but just so you understand, the word itself is not.” He’s nodding his head looking at me attentively I search for a 9 year old connection. I remind him of the joke he made up for school the previous year: What did the screw say to the magnet? You are very attractive.

OK – I think I hit my objective: To walk the fine line of delivering facts while giving only enough age related detail AND to avoid setting up unreasonable beliefs which could be considered contradictory later on.

Turns out he was goofing around in the school yard singing “Eh, sexy lady” from Gangnam Style. And since the only words everyone seems to know include ‘sexy’ – it appears someone from his peer group pointed out he had used the ‘s’ word which is a ‘bad’ word. I reiterated that every family has different consideration for what is and is not a ‘bad’ word. Just like we believe ‘hate’ is a strong, negative word and avoid use of it, his friend’s family believe ‘sexy’ is a bad word and they should not be using it.

I suggested he may wish to choose to no offend his friends by singing this at school – but if he wants to be silly at home and sing while he dances – this would be allowable in our household. No further questions from my little man at this time. Yeah!

Would love your feedback on this one. Any other questions you know they will ask that you have a great suggestion for us in advance. I welcome others opinions.

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Blessings to all those who have survived parenthood – the legal ability to form another human being without instruction manuals. Ours did it with us. Ours will do it with theirs.

Our son is 9. He is our joy and, in many instances, our inspiration – truly an observation here! Since this is the second time I’ve mentioned him in four days…I’m observing that you may find him involved in many of my DoWoos as they unfold throughout this year.

Greg came home from walking his dog after school this afternoon. “How was she?” I asked. “OK” he said “but her collar came off when she sat down to scratch her neck. It was a very dramatic moment!”

I could not help the Loud Smile which bubbled up from my core and I burst out laughing.

I asked him if he knew what dramatic meant? “No” he answered. Interesting…he had delivered this statement with such enthusiasm in his voice!

Turns out he was concerned that while her collar was off, and he was at the T of 2 streets where there is usually more activity, a distraction (anything on wheels) could have come by and the dog would have been gone. He understood enough to use the word to describe the moment.

Love it!

I looking forward to learning more tomorrow!

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